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During a World Council of Churches morning prayer—focusing on the churches and people of Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine – a reflection by Prof. Dr Dmytro Tsolin focused on both the pain of the war in Ukraine as well as how we hang onto hope.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphany of Kyiv and All Ukraine visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 10 April at the request of the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Prof Dr Jerry Pillay, to discuss the current situation in Ukraine, the role of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU) in working toward peace, the continued involvement of the WCC in addressing the war, and the process for membership with the WCC. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay visits Sri Lanka on 24-25 April, meeting with the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, heads of churches, theologians, and government officials to discuss their deep contribution to the ecumenical movement.

During a Global Peace Prayer on 22 March, Christians across the world drew together to pray for peace in a broken world, and to listen to voices from people suffering in Ukraine and other conflict-ridden areas.

A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.

In a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on 2 March, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca asked the patriarch to mediate so that the war between Russia and Ukraine can be stopped.

The Tokyo Olympic Games have begun one year late in one of the world's biggest cities. There are no spectators—and little of the usual spiritual support from churches and no official Olympic Village prayer room.

Rev. Prof. Dr Fernando Enns, on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC), presented a prayer in an interfaith setting during the 7th Global Interreligious Conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution, held 9 March in Okinawa.

During a visit from World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC member churches in Japan received expressions of appreciation from the WCC for hosting various visits and forums that strengthened ecumenical ties.

WCC members in Japan reported a deepening spirit of koinonia as well as more involvement in the programmatic life of the WCC, particularly as the ecumenical movement sets its sights on the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Twenty-five ecumenical theologians and leaders gathered for public lectures coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Tokyo, Japan, on 17 September under the theme “Global Manifestations of Racism Today”.

Lectures and responses reflected on racism as a major concern of the ecumenical movement. Reflections focused on understanding global manifestations of racism today, and reaffirming the intersection of race and ethnicity with other determining characteristics．

Twenty-seven indigenous and ecumenical youths gathered together for a five-day World Council of Churches (WCC) event this week in Japan’s third-largest, western city of Osaka. Participants gathered under the theme, “WCC Continuing Formation on Youth and Racism Awareness in Asia & Indigenous Youth Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.”

In a 29 April message, the Rt Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Anglican Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, reflected on the Easter Sunday violence in Christian churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa and also in some hotels.

In the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, the Omnia Institute for Contextual Leadership, based in Chicago, lifted up points of hope that peace will win in the end. In a 25 April message, Shanta Premawardhana, president of the institute, wrote that every person of every faith of every nation deserves to wake up in peace. “Every child deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and alive to the promise that each day brings,” Premawardhana wrote. “I'm sure you know that this is why we build Interfaith Peacemaker Teams in Sri Lanka.”

The WCC invites applications for a seminar on Youth and Racism Awareness in Asia, to be held in Osaka, Japan on 8-12 September 2019.

The National Christian Council (NCC) in Japan and other faith-based groups in the nation have issued a joint statement regarding comments from Masahiko Shibayama, minister of education and science, about the “Imperial Rescript of Education.”

“The seeds of peace come from the ground.” That is the vision that Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, former director of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches and now president of OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, tries to follow with his organization.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

“Congratulations for being a student at Bossey!” Fr Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, director of the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey and deputy general secretary, welcomed the students for the new academic year 2018-2019. Thirty-one students from diverse countries and traditions will start their classes at the ecumenical institute on Tuesday.